Dove that ventured outside
by Rainer Maria Rilke
English version by Stephen Mitchell
(To Erika, for the festival of praise)
Dove that ventured outside, flying far from the dovecote:
housed and protected again, one with the day, the night,
knows what serenity is, for she has felt her wings
pass through all distance and fear in the course of her wanderings.
The doves that remained at home, never exposed to loss,
innocent and secure, cannot know tenderness;
only the won-back heart can ever be satisfied: free,
through all it has given up, to rejoice in its mastery.
Being arches itself over the vast abyss.
Ah the ball that we dared, that we hurled into infinite space,
doesn’t it fill our hands differently with its return:
heavier by the weight of where it has been.
— from Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, Translated by Stephen Mitchell
/ Photo by quinet /
The great German poet Rilke has reminds us to engage in the wondrous and terrible adventure of our lives. The dove “knows what serenity is, for she has felt her wings / pass through all distance and fear.”
I love the line:
only the won-back heart can ever be satisfied
And that closing verse…
Being arches itself over the vast abyss.
Ah the ball that we dared, that we hurled into infinite space,
doesn’t it fill our hands differently with its return:
heavier by the weight of where it has been.
Wonderful!
I hear that line chanting itself through my mind…
Being arches itself over the vast abyss.
Being arches itself over the vast abyss…
Have a beautiful day!
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Rainer Maria Rilke
Germany (1875 - 1926) Timeline |
More poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke